Author: Arianwen

New year, new art! 2020 is now here and gosh, has 2019 flown by. Also, so much for wishing to be more active in this blog in 2019. I know it’s been another long while since I last wrote here, but the past year has indeed been quite weird, if not a wee bit tough, for me. It was mostly a year of healing, of finding myself again… and while I do regret not having been able to make a lot of art in 2019, I recognize that a break and/or a slower rhythm was needed in order for me to achieve other, also very important things in my life.

And even though I didn’t make a lot of art last year, I did pour my whole art into all the projects I worked on. It was also the year I started dabbling with resin, a fun yet entirely new medium. What I know so far, I learned on my own and with the help of fellow artists in the community (I couldn’t be more grateful for all the life-saving advice and tips), but at this point I am still a beginner in resin casting. I feel like 2020 will be filled with learning and growth and I’m thrilled to see where this whole ordeal takes me.

A dream stays a dream if you are too scared to pursue it.

I’ve just arrived home carrying a bag with written notebooks, a couple of folders and other personal stuff I had back in the office. My work computer is all cleaned up, as is my work email inbox. It is done.

I have officially left my steady full-time job to pursue my dream of becoming an artist. Even though I haven’t completely figured that out yet.

*blows dust off blog* Damn, I really have neglected this space for too long haven’t I.

2019 is just a couple of days away so it’s time to reflect as we look back at we’ve accomplished this year, and forward to what the near future could have in store.

I’m not gonna lie. 2018 was a pretty tough year for me. For the past couple of years, I’ve lived in a very hectic routine as I juggled between my day job, which can get quite emotionally-draining, and freelance work for which I’m very passionate about. Add that to the regular IRL stuff and you barely get any time for yourself. In 2018 I made the mistake of dwelving too deep into the self-sacrifice hole. The result: extreme burnout culminating in a mental breakdown and two months of sick leave (so far).

If you follow me on twitter, you might already have seen more of this little fella.

For almost a year, me and my boyfriend had been considering adopting a second cat. It was roughly a month ago that we finally decided to take the step, after a coworker showed him pictures of a litter of four kittens that he and his girlfriend had found and brought, together with the mother cat, to his place. We hadn’t actually met our chosen kitty until they brought him to our place a few weeks later. Poor thing wasn’t accustomed to humans yet so he was terrified, and would hiss and hide in every corner he could find. Misha, our 5-year old cat, wasn’t happy at all either, but that was to be expected.

Recently my Patreon has been subject to a generous number of changes including new rewards. This is something I aspire to do every once in a while as my art and support towards it grow and evolve, considering how important I find interaction with the pulic and supporters to be.

We’re almost halfway through July and goodness, time really goes by so fast. June might have been my most productive month of 2017 so far, even if my commission queue got dragged a bit more than I initially expected for numerous reasons. Commissions are much harder than I could have thought (case to say, I was… not prepared)- but in a good way of course. Real life things don’t help much either.

So, for obvious reasons I didn’t open commissions this month, but I hope I can open a few more slots in the beginning of August after the current queue and my summer vacation. Until then, I’m entirely focused on finishing the remaining two commissions as well as planning a birthday gift for one of my patrons (a $10 tier perk).

And speaking of patrons, I am also devising some major changes to my Patreon and hope to implement them by the very end of July so they take effect as soon as next month. These would mostly involve much needed graphic/text updates and changes to tiers, probably including a couple of new perks- but it’s all but thoughts as of now.

As for the next wave of commissions, I’ll make sure to post an announcement here as well as on my twitter, so feel free to keep an eye out if you’re interested. 🙂

These are my expected plans for the current month. The time periods below are for crafting phases only and do not include briefing, sketches and shipping. Please note that these dates are not guaranteed and may change depending on various factors (such as illness or other IRL situations), but I always do my best to meet them.